A total of 63 players (21 of them doing so twice!) ponied up the KRW 7,000,000 entry fee to take part in the APT Super High Roller - 8 Max Event. The players smashed the guarantee of KRW 250,000,000, as the 84 entries created a prize pool of KRW 529,620,000 (~$399,950) to fight for, with KRW 145,650,000 (~$109,990) up for grabs in first place.
Day 1 Action
Some of the best players across Asia and the world turned out for this event, including WSOP bracelet winners Alex Lindop and Calvin Lee, as well as APT all-stars such as Jun Hao Wu and Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung. We even saw some of the Natural8 Team Hot crew join, as Phachara Wongwichit, Danny Tang, and Yu-Chung Chang threw their hat into the ring.
Serbian poker pro Milos Petakovic dominated proceedings from the offer, quickly doubling his 250,000 starting stack to 500,000 after winning a huge hand against Darko Svesko with a straight against two pair. Milos would then add another 250,000 to his stack, as he eliminated Natural8 Team Hot Pro Phachara Wongwichit with KK against Wongwichit’s JJ.
Petakovic wasn’t the only player amassing a huge chip stack, as several other players were running hot and stacking chips Thanisorn Saelor found himself with 1.7 million chips after eliminating Natural8 Team Pro Danny Tang after turning a pair with KQs against the 99 of Tang. Shimizu Nozomu, Yan Shing Tsang, and WSOP Main Event final table player and WSOP/APT title holder Joseph Cheong, all found themselves above 1 million chips as Day 1 was coming to a close.
Natural8’s own Yu-Chung Chang also managed to get above the 1 million chip mark as his A9 held against the QJ of Milos Skrbic after getting all-in preflop. The man with the most chips throughout the day was Thanisorn Saelor, who found himself with 3.3 million chips after eliminating Zhanhui Zheng and GG Poker Ambassador Jeff Gross.
Despite having the chip lead for most of the day, Milos Petakovic went on a storming run after the players converged to two tables, and ended the day with 3,750,000. Saelor dipped back under the 3 million chip mark, as he ended the day with 2.92 million. China’s Tsz Him Chan rounded out the top three with 2.21 million chips.
Natural8 Team Pro Yu-Chung Chang ended the day fifth in chips after bagging 1,395,000 and will be looking to use his experience to convert that stack into a final table appearance.
16 players remain with only 11 players cashing in this event, so expect a feisty start to Day 2!
Can Natural8’s Yu-Chung Chang claim another APT title? Will Milos continue his fantastic run into Day 2? Let us know on social media and stay tuned for all the latest poker news and events.
Image Source: The Asian Poker Tour
